Wind Ensemble to perform unique “Anniversaries” concert

A work with recorded soundscape, an anime video composition and a piece recognizing a famed Trans-Antarctic expedition – the La Sierra University Wind Ensemble will offer these and other unique musical experiences in a performance this Saturday evening.

(Photo by Natan Vigna) The La Sierra University Wind Ensemble under direction of Dr. Ken Narducci

Titled “Anniversaries,” the wide-ranging concert takes place on March 1 at 7:30 p.m. at La Sierra’s Hole Memorial Auditorium. The repertoire includes “Endurance,” a piece by Timothy Mahr commemorating the 100th anniversary of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Trans-Antarctic expedition in 1914. Named after Shackleton’s ice-bound ship, the composition serves as a musical reflection upon the infinite endurance of the human spirit.

Other works include “Star-Crossed,” an Andrew Boysen piece composed last year and performed in sync with the action of anime-style art by Erik Evensen in video format. The comic book-like video stars heroine Red Rhapsody and the villain, The Maverick. Their story plays out to a soundtrack performed by the ensemble under direction of Ken Narducci.

“The conductor has to live-sync the ensemble to the video. Kind of a challenge, but fun,” Narducci said.

The group will also perform “Tight Squeeze” by Alex Shapiro with a pre-recorded soundscape, and “Equus,” a dynamic minimalist work by Grammy Award-winning composer Eric Whitacre. They will also play “Shadow Falls,” written last year by Emmy Award-winning composer Julie Giroux, and “Fantasia for Alto Saxophone” by Claude T. Smith featuring Saishuro Masumoto on saxophone.

The concert repertoire came about initially as a way of sharing new and engaging music by serious band music composers who are friends and colleagues, said Narducci who serves as La Sierra’s director of wind and percussion studies. It also bridges “the generation gap with time well spent on music that reaches deep into one's soul -- that place where we need to spend more time and contemplation.”

Admission is free. The concert will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Hole Memorial Auditorium. For information call 951-785-2036. La Sierra University is located at 4500 Riverwalk Parkway, Riverside.